# cadenji/foolrenderer

A tiny software renderer implemented from scratch without the use of graphics API, used to understand how GPUs work.

Repository: https://github.com/cadenji/foolrenderer
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/foolrenderer
Language: C
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: renderer, computer-graphics, render-pipeline, softrenderer, real-time-rendering, 3d-graphics, gamedev, graphics, graphics-programming, rendering
Last push: 2022-07-31T09:25:50+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1801, "days_push": 1494, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1134, forks 73 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:43.055543+00:00)

## What it is
A tiny software renderer written in C from scratch without any graphics API, designed to demonstrate real-time rendering techniques like rasterization and PBR. It serves as an educational tool for understanding how GPUs and rendering pipelines work.

## Use cases
- learn how GPUs and rendering pipelines work
- study rasterization and real-time rendering techniques
- understand PBR materials and gamma correction from scratch
- teach computer graphics fundamentals with readable code
- build a software renderer without OpenGL or DirectX
- supplement graphics courses like GAMES101 or tinyrenderer

## When to choose
- you want a small, readable codebase to learn rendering internals
- you need a dependency-free CPU renderer for educational purposes
- you prefer heavily commented code with formula explanations

## When to avoid
- you need a production-grade, GPU-accelerated renderer
- you require high performance or large-scale scene rendering
- you want a full game engine or asset pipeline

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: graphics, simulation
- domain: graphics, computer-vision, tutorials
- platform: cpp, cross-platform, windows
- tags: software-renderer, rasterization, real-time-rendering, cpu-rendering, computer-graphics, educational, pbr, cmake, game-development, macos

## Member repositories
- cadenji/foolrenderer (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:43.055543+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:36:56.153997+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cadenji/foolrenderer (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:43.055543+00:00, sha f30d8f51694a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.